Number the Stars
by Deceased Laughter
Summary: Being sent to protect a band of newbie heroes is the worst thing that could happen to an antisocial angel.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. Shocking, I know**

**Warnings: **This will be violent, random, and probably boring with moments of mild humor. I don't like Collette and expect sporadic updates. I have a case of chronic laziness I it might seem that I dropped of the face of the Earth at some points. And if you have a flame, please send it. I've been dying to get one of those. Just make use of shift keys; I want to be able to read it.

**Boredom**

Four-hundred and ninety-seven. Kratos Aurion lay in his feather bed wearing a purple outfit with numerous and unnecessary belts and counted the number of platinum tiles covering the roof of his prison. Four-hundred and ninety-seven had always been the exact number of tiles the roof and he had no idea why he felt the need to count them again. It had been the same since he had been, for all intends and purposes been imprisoned there almost eighteen years ago.

After a miniscule sigh, he got up and began to take of some of the annoying belts covering his arms and chest. _Yggdrassil needs to torment me in any way he sees possible, _he thought tiredly. After removing most of the dammed belts he fell back in his bed and began to count the tiles once again. Before he got to number two-hundred and forty eight (at this point he usually stopped and counted the other half of the tiles starting at the other end of the roof) Promyna walked into his room.

"You know," said Kratos in a monotone. "I could have been naked in here. But considering how liberal you are when it comes to clothing, you probably wouldn't have cared."

Promyna was Yggdrassil's personal assistant and favorite black mage. Kratos referred to her as Yggdrassil's bitch privately. She was a woman who was getting on years, an elf had to be old if wrinkles were becoming an issue, but she insisted on dressing like some sort of mythological whore. _Probably for Yggdrassil's benefit, _thought Kratos with some dry humor, _I wonder if she knows how Yggie really looks._

As usual, Promyna ignored his comment and simply walked next to the bed so Kratos could look her in the face. "Lord Yggdrassil wishes to see you immediately," she smirked down at him. "I suggest you fix your clothing, he is expecting you in fifteen minutes in the conference room." Without giving Kratos a chance to reply, she walked out of the room, getting having some difficulty getting out with that _thing _she wore on her back.

Kratos sighed again, reluctant to go out without finishing his recount of the tiles in the roof. It probably was not a good sign that he cared so much about something so redundant, but he had decided that his sanity was fragile a while ago. Almost eighteen years ago, to be exact. He shook off his unease (it was probably due to having another get together with his captor and former friend) and simply gathered the belts and walked out the room.

In any other place, people might have looked at him questioningly if he got out of his room putting on some fruity, lavender, and unnecessary belts in his chest, but this was Derris-Kharlan. When he was about two corridors away from the door to the Yggie's (_Yggdrassil _was too long a name, even thinking it was a hassle), Kratos laid back against the wall and began counting the platinum tiles that were covering the door.

_One._

"I don't think it is a good idea to send a traitor to protect the Chosen, my lord." _Yuan, you also think that the bastard has gone totally mental; you're just too prudent to do anything._

_Four._

"I think it's time we test just how much control I have over our rebel seraph, don't you think?" _Yggie, you know perfectly well that I'll never **really **be one of your puppets again._

_Seven._

"Yes, but is it prudent to send someone as unstable as him in such an important task." _Yuan, you want this scheme to bring back Martel to fail; regardless of what she was to you don't think I don't see that. And what do you mean by **unstable?**_

_Ten._

"Relax, Yuan, if this chosen fail there will always be another one soon enough. We'll just send Kratos to guard this one as a little test." _Wait, he's sending me to guard someone. Not just to murder some Desian, or some human in Tethe'alla. This is not good. _

When the full it finally hit Kratos that he was going to be sent to be the babysitter of some religious, blond, probably insultingly optimistic girl in a misguided journey to become Martel's vessel, he nearly had a epileptic fit. Since he had been captured, Yggie had mostly turned him into his pet hit man. Kratos really didn't mind, most of the people Yggie wanted dead were either as insane as he was, or just plain evil. He really didn't mind, what he really resented was having to act like he gave a shit about what was going on anymore.

Kratos would have calmly accepted a fate in which he would have to off the occasional madman making a bid for Yggie's power but _no; _Yggie had to realize that having one of his strongest subordinates did not make him look good, so he had forced Kratos to act like he was still loyal. Again, he really didn't mind the killing, but flanking Yggie dressed like a fucking fairy during those times he called his group of cardinals and scientists and the like was getting tiresome.

_And now he's sending me to baby-sit another religious, idealistic retard while he plotted to destroy said religious, idealistic retard's soul. This means war. _He considered doing something stupid, like openly defy Yggie and babble some of his more intimate secrets among the members of Cruxis. That would probably result in pointless fights and he'd probably end up artificially frozen in a cube in some remote lab belonging to Rodyle. _Naked. _He looked down at his lavender, bondage angel clothes. _Or worse, dresses like this. Maybe I'll rebel some other time._

In the middle of this pointless mental discussion, Yuan walked out and glanced absent-mindedly at Kratos. It was a shame that someone who had been so brave, and resourceful had turned into someone so passive and clearly deranged.

"How long have you been there?" asked Yuan when he noticed the almost uncertain frown in Kratos's surprisingly young looking face. He would always look that, young with sad, old eyes. How old had he been when Martel gave him the Cruxis Crystal? Twenty? Twenty-one?

Kratos looked up, momentarily startled out of his musings, and saw Yuan looking at him with an exasperated look on his face.

"I just got here," murmured Kratos, determined to sound even more bored and unenthusiastic than he actually was. His tone had the desired effect; Yuan looked like he wanted to jump of a building for a moment.

"I have an appointment with Lord Yggie now," Yuan looked pained when he heard the nickname and he just sighed and turned around, leaving Kratos standing in the door way by himself.

Kratos sighed himself (there seemed to be a lot of sighing going around lately) and walked into the conference room then gaped. Yggie was wearing the gayest thing that Kratos had ever since. For the first time in his life, Kratos's was mentally speechless. Yggie had put on a white jumpsuit that clung to every inch of his illusionary muscles. _And it sparkles. Oh Lord, this proves it. Yggie is gay. Oh no, is that why he has been making me dress like a fairy? _

It was a good thing that Yggie was praying, so he could not see the comical look on Kratos's face. The praying gave Kratos time to assimilate the fact that Yggie was gay, so Kratos manage to put on his bored mask before he turned around.

"Kratos, I need you to go Iselia and watch over the new Chosen as she goes on the Journey of Regeneration," said Yggie in a clear tone.

_There is a golden, circular **thing **on his chest. _It was good thing that Yggie took the look of mild disgust and confusion in Kratos's face as a result of the mission.

"Why?" asked Kratos, nut he was really talking about Yggie's choice of attire.

"Because I'm telling you to," iced Yggie. "And I have a feeling the renegades will try to get in the way of this one."

"You know perfectly well that if I had a choice, I'd be helping these renegades," Kratos made some air quotes when he said _renegades,_ but that was just to be annoying. He had acquired quite a taste for being annoying over the years. "So why, _Lord _Yggdrassil, are you sending me to do this? Trying to sabotage your own deluded plan, are we?"

"You are a human," apparently Yggie was not interested in having a bitch fest with Kratos at the moment. "You will be able to infiltrate the Chosen's group easily. Make sure to be discreet with your powers. Go play guardian angel Kratos."

_Insolence is not going to get me out of this, is it? _Kratos was beginning to feel claustrophobic about this whole thing. He didn't want any contact with humans, or normal elves for that matter. He just wanted to be left alone with his drab misery. Unfortunately, when Kratos was felling anxious, he tended to forget the basic rules of survival in Derris-Kharlan.

"Mithos, why don't you just let Martel rest?" he mouthed in a desperate attempt to make Yggie see reason.

Rule of survival in Derris-Kharlan number one: **Do not say Martel in front of Lord Yggdrassil. **

"HOW DARE YOU?" screamed Yggie spreading out his golden wings, looking like he was about to blast Kratos into oblivion. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Yggie calmed down before the actual blasting took place.

"Forgot how vital you are for a second there," Yggie chuckled a little when he said that. His shoulders dropped and he grabbed on to a chair for support as if for support.

_You are as tired as I am, aren't you Mithos? Why can't you let us all rest?_

Kratos anted nothing more than to go back to his cell –_no, **room**_--, and finish counting his tiles. But that was really too much to ask; he'd learned long ago that just because what you wanted was simple didn't mean that you were going to get it.

"Tomorrow, I will send Remiel to the temple of Iselia," Yggie shook himself a little and offered Kratos a bland smile. "I have reasons to believe that the Renegades will attack. Save the day and use your witty charm to sneak your way into the Chosen's caravan." He extended his arm and motioned for the door. "Promyna has the funds you'll need. Go"

In an inn in the outskirts of Iselia

_Well, things could be worse. _Kratos laid on a lumpy bead in a cheap inn in the outskirts of Iselia. He was in the happiest mood he'd been in eighteen years. Being outside of derris-Kharlan had a positive effect in a person's spirits. Maybe that's way Yuan is not completely insane yet.

When he had gotten his funds from Promyna, he had flown to the forests of Palmacosta and waited for some thugs to try to rob him. He had quickly found one close to his size and jumped him. Quickly, he had taken the fellow's clothing and switched it with his lavender attire. There is probably a joke about role-reversal there somewhere, but he was too lazy to think it up.

After he had acquired less conspicuous clothing, he had walked to Palmacosta to find a store. He had forgotten how entertaining just walking could be. He had enjoyed the plains leafing to Palmacosta despite the mana shortage; he'd even used his angelic aura to keep enemies away. When he got to Palmacosta, Kratos went to a clothing store and bought clothes suitable for a mercenary. It was probably ironic that the only outfit that fitted him had been purple, but again, he was too lazy to give that the attention it deserved.

When the quest for suitable clothing was done, he armed himself in the most ordinary way he could find. The metal sword was sturdy but weak; it wouldn't take much effort to hide his strength with that sword. He didn't really need the shield, but he figured he needed to seem like a real mercenary. And he wanted to seem competent; he doubted the chosen's guardians would hire him if he didn't take his role as a mercenary seriously.

With new clothes, new inadequate weaponry, and a somewhat refreshed spirit, Kratos made his way to Iselia via embarrassingly sparkly wings. He was happy to see that Yggie had the decency to send him to Iselia with plenty of time to be lazy and idle before he had to socialize.

Trying to immerse himself into the role of a human, Kratos had paid for the room that he was currently laying in. so far, the only thing that bothered him was that his room was devoid of tiles. What was he supposed to do in the hours he had to wait for the renegades to attack he had nothing to count?

_I know, _he quickly teleported to the roof of the small inn and looked up at the sky. _I'll count the stars. _

A/N: I know, I know, the nickname is annoying but I'm not typing "Yggdrassil over and over again. Read, review, blah.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own. Blah… Blah… Blah**

**Number the Stars**

**Chapter Two**

_Five thousand three hundred and seventy two, five thousand three hundred and seventy three-- Hey, the sun is up. _

Kratos stood up and stretched before teleporting back into his rented room. It was time for mission Pretend to be a Guardian Angel to commence. He glanced at the greasy mirror in his room to make sure that he looked as normal as he could look and almost got distracted by the shapes that the grease was making. Before he could get mesmerized by something mundane, Kratos shook his head and walked out of the room.

As he was going down the stairs, Kratos took notice of four elves disguised as Desians. His intuition (which he supposed he had developed because he had been alive for more than four thousand years) advised him to wait before they left to avoid possible recognition.

"We have to make sure that the dammed girl does not make it to the Church," Kratos heard the obese giant that he deduced was the leader of the group bark instructions to his subordinates.

_Great, _thought Kratos dejectedly. _Now I'll have to stop these morons before they—Wait, I can use them to make sure I get this 'protect the Chosen' mercenary job._

On the spot, Kratos decided to let these elves (probably Renegades) get to the temple and attack the Chosen. If he did that, Kratos would be putting the Chosen in his debt while showing of his skills (some of them anyway). He watched as the elves-probably-Renegades walked out of the inn and waited a few minutes. When he was certain that they had a decent lead on him, he walked out of the inn himself.

It hadn't been ten minutes before Kratos could see them about twenty meters and ten centimeters ahead of him on the road. _Just how slow and incompetent are they? _He asked himself bemusedly. _I've been idle and I **still **caught up to them_.

The complete incompetence of these Renegades (he was certain they were Renegades, who else would try to go after the Chosen?) meant one of two things. One, the people opposing Yggie were much weaker than he had assumed. Two, this time, the chosen was a not noble like last time, meaning that the leader of the renegades trusted these morons to eliminate her.

Kratos left the road and walked into the Iselia forest. When he was a six meters and two decimeters into the woods, he spread out his wings and put on and invisibility charm and began to memorize the layout of the region. _There's the church, about thirty five decameters from Iselia. There's the forest about one kilometer and two decameters in the eastern side of Iselia. That house in the far north of the forest, about two kilometers from those dammed hills are still there? Yes, I see it. Huh, Yggie put a human ranch on that hill? How nauseatingly ironic of him. _

Kratos checked on the progress of the Renegades and was pleased to see that they were making to the church without problems. He decided to fly around the region some more to kill time. This mission was turning out to be more bothersome and mundane than he had expected. When passing through the road between Iselia and the church for the third time, he saw a young woman (a half elf judging by the white hair and unusually pale complexion) walking towards the church.

_She sure seems to be in a hurry, _thought Kratos swinging his left foot a little absentmindedly. It seemed that anytime he wasn't counting something he needed to be moving somehow. _Can she be the Chosen? No, Chosen are humans. But why is she going to the Church?_ He looked over at the Renegades who were nearly in the church already. _That Holy Bottle won't protect you against them, half-elf girl._

Kratos considered coming to her aid somehow but he reminded himself that his mission was the Chosen, not the half elf girl. He told himself that if he helped any creature that needed help in Sylvarant, he would never have a moment of rest and stubbornly ignored the situation at hand. Instead, he continued to fly around a little and about ten minutes after the half elf girl had come out of Iselia, three kids follow her example.

_Children, hmm, it's been a while since I saw some of those. But they are not even carrying a Holy Bottle. _Kratos began to feel obligated to help them despite his previous resolution to mind his own business. They were just children after all.

Thankfully, before he could engage in a mental battle with himself, he noticed that these three children weren't so helpless. There was one with brown hair who seem competent with a sword—_no, two swords—_and that white haired young half elf was very nimble with black magic.

_The brown haired one is not too bad with a sword, but why the hell does he need two? _He thought genuinely entertained for the first time in a long while. _Someone needs to explain the concept of guarding to him. And that half elf appears to be well-trained in black magic. _For the first time, he noticed the blond girl who was fighting the fiends along side them.

_She's attacking with rings, she's supposed to be in the middle of the battlefield, why isn't she in the middle? Blond? _It was then that Kratos realized that this was probably the Chosen, who was heading towards the church; which probably meant that he had missed the signal. He had missed a blatantly obvious ray of light coming from the temple. _Wonder what I was staring at this time?_

He shook his head; a little miffed with himself and watched the three kids make it to the temple without too much trouble. Once they went he inside, he followed them still cloaked in his invisibility charge. Kratos watched as the three kids took out three of the Renegades and, thankfully for him, they were beginning to look tired.

_It's about time too, _thought Kratos to himself as he watched the three kids argue about what to do in regards to the signal and the half-elf's sister. _That half elf might be gifted, but he's still young. The Chosen looks like she needs a good Healing Stream to go her way, but why isn't the other boy in the same condition?_

It was then that Kratos decided to take a good look at the brown haired boy, meaning that he noticed the sphere on is right hand. _Now, how in the world did he get that? _Before he could really think much about brown hair's sphere, they three kids finished their argument, which he had ignored, and rushed towards the church. He ran behind them a hid his wings before he forgot to make sure that he didn't forget right before it was time to drop the invisibility charm.

When they got there, they were greeted by the fat, probably sphere altered half-elf, wielding a nasty spiked ball chain. Brown hair rushed at the enemy and actually managed to land in a few hits with his sphere-enhanced speed. _That's right, brown hair, use your speed to wear him down and let white hair deal some real damage—no run back a little, guard—oh, screw it. _Unfortunately, the sphere did not enhance brown hair's intelligence and he was actually trying to beat fat half-elf head on. Before further damage could be done, Kratos rushed into the fight and casted a first aid spell on brown hair.

The fight only lasted a few minutes, with Kratos mainly casting healing spells on brown hair. The Chosen was being a particular pain to heal; she didn't excel in speed, stamina or strength. He supposed her turning into an angel would fix that. _The brat doesn't have enough stamina for that to be of much help. Oh, whatever, just try to be subtle about this. _Kratos decided to end the fight with a really well-placed and extremely overpower stone blast and fat half-elf dropped to the ground. Almost immediately, fat half-elf's superior appeared.

Fat half-elf's was a stern looking half-elf with spiked brown hair and the skirt looked rather strange on such a manly face. _Well, whatever suits anybody, I guess. _

"Shit, I didn't think you'd be here." _Who, me? Do I know him? Have I seen him? _"We better retreat for now." _My reputation must have gotten worst over the years if my presence is scaring them off. _

"That's right you'd better run off," Brown hair was quickly loosing any respect from Kratos.

"Hey, this guy is really strong," this particular half-elf is particularly small. He reminded Kratos of a mellower version of the much younger Mithos. "That was a really good stone blast."

"He scared those guys off easily," mouthed the Chosen sounding impressed. Kratos settled for tapping his sword against his uncle.

"He's not that good," mouthed brown hair sounding miffed. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

"I am Kratos Aurion, a mercenary," responded Kratos with as much enthusiasm as he did everything else.

At that moment, an old woman walked out of the temple and looked at Kratos as if sizing him up. "Are you the mercenary that Deidre planned to hire?"

"Yes, I am," answered Kratos with as much candor as before. The Chosen chose this moment to be brave and determined.

"I have to go through my test now," she said stepping up to the entrance of the temple. The old lady stepped forward and gave some overly dramatic warning about the monster.

"We'll help you, Collette," said brown hair sounding too enthusiastic at the prospect of danger. _Opinion regarding you deteriorating, brat. _

"Lloyd," voiced white hair sounding exasperated. "We can't just rush in there, we're running out of items." Then he sighed wearily. "But I do have to save Raine."

"Al, right, then here we go," said brown hair happily. The old lady thankfully chose this moment to intervene.

"Mercenary," she said looking up at Kratos. "Won't you help them?"

"I fate clients die I'll be out of a job," he said an followed the three brats into the temple.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: See chapter one.**

**Warnings: See chapter one. In case I didn't mention it before, bad language. Minor curse words, whatever you want to call it. Can't handle it don't read. And the dialogue is different because I am too lazy to replay the game while I write this. I did not know I had to proofread this after I downloaded because it changed the format. So, I am sorry for any previous mistakes.**

**Number the Stars**

**Chapter 3**

So the children were not gifted in the puzzle solving department. Either that or they were blinded by the prospect of opening a simple chest (_which ended up having a simple potion, rot in hell Yggie_). Kratos supposed that he should be happier because the kids could train fighting these relatively low leveled creatures from the underworld. Why Yggie had found it logical to have creatures of the underworld invade the temples to start the "Regeneration" was something Kratos didn't understand, but he would not argue about it later.

He was trying extremely hard to be patient instead of just taking the Chosen (who had turned out to be a blond stereotype, by the way) and completing the stupid Journey of Regeneration in one day. But no, Yggie needs to make sure that he has many followers so when this girl fails he can have another endless supply of other girls to try again. If this was what Yuan had put up with for the better part of four thousand years, then Kratos had a new-found respect for the man.

Anyway, after fifteen long minutes of childish wonder at the temple (if they ever made it to the temple of light they would probably never get out), they finally made it to the shrine. A shrine that Remiel proceeded to defile with his two-faced, manipulative, haughty, and ignorant presence.

"Welcome," he said in his annoyingly superior voice. "You have begun the Journey of Regeneration . . . blah . . . blah . . . blah."

Kratos felt no need to listen to the spiel; he knew the road they were supposed to take by heart. Begin at Iselia; go to temple of Fire, then to the Temple of Wind, Temple of Water, Temple of Light, and finally Tower of Salvation. He felt no need pay attention to Remiel's babbling because he didn't like it and because he knew that Remiel hated being ignored, especially by Kratos.

Remiel was what Kratos considered a pompous ass; the bastard felt superior because he had taken a thousand years to rise in the Yggie's ranks. He now felt proud of being Yggie's personal messenger to the filthy humans. And Remiel hated Kratos with the passion of a thousand flaming suns because Yggie _needed _Kratos despite his being a former filthy human. This hatred resulted in Remiel's repeated attempts to screw with Kratos's existence, at least until Yggie reminded him that he was replaceable while Kratos was not.

If Kratos was a little more mature or had something else to do, he probably wouldn't mess with Remiel at every chance he got. Unfortunately, Kratos _didn't_ have anything else to do, so he would get in Remiel's face as much as he could. If Remiel weren't so self –absorbed, he would notice that Kratos subtly got in the face of everyone even remotely important in Derris-Kharlan, Yggie included. So, during this rather long sermon on duty light, regeneration, faith, and mana, Kratos put on his most innocent and bored expression.

Ramie threw Kratos a brief glare that Kratos wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't studied Ramie's varied collection of the constipated look and finally disappeared in an annoying an unnecessarily radiant golden glow. From what he had actually listened to, the Chosen believed that Remiel was her father and the bastard planned to use that against her.

"Children," Kratos murmured somewhat uncertain, the last child he had actually spoken to was his dead son. "It's time for us to go back. There is nothing else to do here."

"Yeah," chirped in Collette and practically bounced out of the room.

_ If you act that happy, then you are **not **happy. The girl knows something is wrong, maybe I gave her too little credit. _

Kratos waited until all three kids had gotten out before following them, hoping that he would only have to deal with the Chosen from that point on.

* * *

Kratos had gotten rid of brown hair and white hair just to deal with the Chosen, her useless hick of a father, Deidre, and the female half-elf he had seen going to the temple earlier in the morning. He assumed that she was white hair's sister, judging by the striking similarities between them. The more he looked at either of them, the more Kratos was reminded of Martel, Mithos, and the past in general. He didn't like the feeling.

"So, Mr. Aurion, do you agree with what we are offering to pay you?" asked white hair _(**Raine**, you are traveling with this woman, learn her dammed name. And the Chosen is **Collette.) **_

"Uh, sure," agreed Kratos, who hadn't really been paying attention to the conversation. He watched as Raine narrowed her eyes suspiciously. _What the hell did I say?_

"Really?" she asked in a skeptical voice. "You're willing to take such a dangerous job for ten thousand pounds of gald? You must be very generous."

Kratos sighed and quickly noted that _Raine _was very intelligent and that he would need to be very careful around her. Still, once upon a time, ten thousand pounds of gald had been a fortune. _Guess I'll just go with the standard 'I'm a devout follower of Martel' bullshit._

"I'm taking this job mainly because I want to be of assistance with the Journey of Regeneration," Kratos was proud of his acting skills. Yggie had sucked the life out of him so well that he could say that with a straight face.

Unsurprisingly, Raine didn't really look like she bought that. She just nodded and sat down saying something about preparations for the journey to Deidre. Kratos once again reminded himself to be cautious around her and looked over at the Chosen _(**Collette, **damn it). _She had her hands on her lap and tried her best to look happy. Her acting skills were no where as good as Kratos's. She looked like she was waiting for something, or someone.

As if on cue, brown hair burst into the room, closely followed by white hair, who put his hands on his knees and glared at his overenthusiastic friend. "Lloyd, haven't you ever heard of knocking? You utter dumb ass."

"Language, Genis," said Raine in a menacing tone. White hair just pouted at her.

"Collette," said brown hair happily. "I came to congratulate you on your birthday."

Collette beamed happily and got up as if to hug Lloyd, but stopped half-way there. _So, little Chosen is infatuated. If I weren't dead inside by now, I would be amused by the tragic love. _

Deidre saw this as the perfect opportunity to chase way the brats so the adults could talk about more delicate matters.

"You kids better go outside," she said, getting up from her chair and walking over to the table to get some juice. "Collette, now's a good time to say good bye to your friends."

"Yes, Mrs. Deidre," said Collette and nearly curtsied and walked out of the door.

"See you around," said brown hair and followed Collette.

"Bye, Mrs. Deidre," said white hair. "Bye, sis," he waved and followed the tow other kids.

_ Now that the Chosen and the brats are gone, let's get started on planning this stupid trip._

"First, we have to decide where to start,' said Raine, leaning to a wall a few feet from where Kratos was standing. "Are there any records of the journeys of previous Chosen's?"

_ Unfortunately for you, no. Yggie is very careful. He does not want anyone to analyze these quests too much._

"The Journey of Regeneration is a very sacred enterprise," sighed Deidre. "The Church of Martel keeps the details secret to ensure that the Desians don't interfere."

_ Apparently Deidre suspects that's bullshit. Either that or she is just tired of Desians and has not really analyzed the situation._

"Still, the priests must know _something," _said Raine and gestured with her hand at the Book of Scriptures. "There must be some clues found in the book if we examine it closely."

_ Sorry, book is just a load of propaganda. Really, what religious work isn't a load of fairy tales?_

"No, the book is just filled with the wonderful teachings of the Church of Martel," intoned Collette's father _(what the hell is **his **name?)._

"Well, there must be a way to be sure about this," insisted Raine, clearly, she was a women who valued being prepared. "We can't waste too much time deciphering Ramiel's _riddles."_

_ Glad to see you find this as needlessly complicated as I do. _Kratos, feeling increasingly bored; decided it was time to point these people in the right direction.

"Ramiel said something about the four elements and traveling over the four corners of this world," summarized Kratos. "Isn't that a good place to start?"

Raine brought her right hand to her chin and looked at Kratos. "Do you remember exactly what he said, Mr. Aurion?"

He did, (it was written all over the place in Derris-Kharlan) but he was not about to repeat it word for word. "No, but that was the gist of it. And you can call me Kratos." _Common, you are a teacher. Think geographically. _

"The four elements and four corners of this world," Raine mumbled to herself. "We should probably look for ruins; this tradition did start a long time ago. But, how do we get the right order, even _if _we can guess the places to go?

"Well," said Kratos trying to sound hopeful. "Maybe the order doesn't matter at all."

Raine threw him a look that said that she didn't think it would be that easy and that she did not like talking unless it was to say something of import. Kratos shrugged and decided to point her in the right direction a little more. "Ramiel said something about fire first."

Raine gave him a look that probably translated to "Why the hell didn't you say that before?" and drew her eyebrows together. She beamed after a minute and walked to were all the religious books that the Chosen's father kept. Kratos watched her leaf through the books on mana, as if to double check something. Then, she shut that book and walked to where she had put her bag and pulled a large book out of it. Feeling a little curious, Kratos walked over to look at the book over her shoulder. It appeared to be an atlas of ruins, with layouts and small descriptions written in the bottom.

"I've found it!" Raine exclaimed suddenly and leaned a little closer to the book. Kratos read the small description on the bottom. "This small monument in the desert has been closed since it was found fifteen years ago and no one has been able to go beyond the rock blocking an opening in the floor."

_ Ruins of the Temple of Fire it is. So nice of Yggie to reveal them before hand. 'Appear to be mystically shut.' Collette will open the ruins. Good find, Raine._

"It seems like a good place to start," said Kratos. "When do we leave?"

"We leave tomorrow," said Raine. "We better give Collette one last day to enjoy with Lloyd and Genis."

Before Kratos could say anything else, the Chosen burst through the door nearly in tears. She started to run for what Kratos assumed was her room, but noticed him and Raine first. Kratos watched, and was nearly impressed, as the girl replaced her oncoming sobs with a steady smile.

"Collette," said Raine, who was still immersed in her atlas. "We leave early tomorrow. Better go pack a few changes of clothes and some Gels." The Chosen looked uncertain for a second, then smiled and rushed to her room. Raines put her atlas back in her bag and looked up. "Kratos, we need to stop by Lloyd's home before living, his father has some supplies for us."

"Why don't we do that tonight?" asked Kratos, wanting to get started soon because he really wanted to go back to wasting away endless days. "That way we don't have to loose time tomorrow morning."

"You're right," sighed Raine and shouted for Collette to come down. "We are going to Dirk's house," she told Collette. "Do you want to come with us?"

"Yes," said the Chosen and practically bounced on her feet.

"You better make sure your packed," said Kratos. "And bring those weapons you were using in the morning." He looked over at Raine questioningly. "Can _you _fight?" he asked, genuinely interested, for once.

"I am learning white magic and have studied the healing arts all my life," said Raine smugly.

"Good, because we will be needing a healer in this trip."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: You know the spiel.**

**Warnings: Bad language, lack of memory when it comes to names, a little short.**

**Number the Stars**

**Chapter Four**

After waiting for Collette to pack up a few changes of clothing, some gels, and some ingredients for cooking, Kratos and Raine left for Lloyd's home. Kratos supposed that it was the solitary house he'd seen north of the Iselia Forest while he flew around the region early in the morning. He assumed that Lloyd's father was some sort of craftsman and he hoped that the craftsman was a good one so he could save himself the trouble of looking for one on the road to teach Raine and Collette about gems and expheres and such.

Kratos was delighted that Raine was extremely competent because she was doing most of his job for him. He was also thankful that Collette was so eager to make everyone happy and that she was proving to be very cooperative. After spending only a few hours with them, Kratos had concluded that all he would have to do is make sure that the Chosen didn't die and he would be back in his room at Derris-Kharlan in no time.

He was actually feeling quite content because his job was proving to be much easier then he had first assumed. Or at least, he was quite content until the three of them ran into a bunch of wild animals from the forest of Iselia. Raine was a good magician; she avoided close range fighting and stayed behind casting simple supporting magic and healing whenever necessary. Needless to say, Kratos had no real problems himself but he made sure not to seem too strong in front of Raine.

The problem was Collette. In his infinite underestimation of just how stupid people could be, Kratos _assumed _that the Chosen had been trained for battle at some point. Now, as he looked at Collette put herself in the middle of all the animals, he realized that he was mistaken.

_The kid has some potential, or at least she will once the angel transformation begins. _Kratos quickly dispatched their attackers and took Collette to where Raine was standing while she healed her.

"Why wasn't she trained for battle?" he asked Raine, feeling exasperated. "Didn't people know from the beginning that she is the Chosen?"

"Collette has been taught all about the Church of Martel," answered Raine as she healed some of the minor injuries Collette had taken. "She even knows how to read angel language."

"That's great, and all," responded Kratos feeling even more annoyed. "But how is it going to help when she is in the middle of a fight? Really, what did they think they were preparing this girl for, a worldwide sermon?"

For once, Kratos hoped that he was exaggerating and that they would not have to fight too much. In any case, it never hurt to be prepared so Kratos leaned down and tried to wake Collette. The girl, who thankfully came out of the fight with only minor injuries, blinked and sat up gingerly while Raine asked if she was feeling dizzy or if she was having trouble seeing correctly.

"No, it's okay Professor Sage," said Collette and plastered on her big, obviously fake smile. The kid really needed to drop the martyr act, but Kratos wasn't there to be her counselor; just her bodyguard until the right time for her death came.

"Chosen," began Kratos and Collette automatically turned her head in his direction and smiled. Kratos suppressed and frown and picked up one of Collette's weapons. "What is this?"

"It's my weapon," she said uncertainly.

"And what are you supposed to do with it?" asked Kratos.

"Kratos--," began Raine gestured for her to be quiet.

"I defend myself from the monsters," answered Collette with a small voice.

"From where?" continued Kratos, quite happy with employing the 'ask them until they find the answer themselves' teaching method.

"The one closes to me," or maybe the 'ask them until they find the answer themselves' was not so good in this situation.

"No," corrected Kratos. "This is a mid-range weapon. You stay in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by your allies and support those in the frontline. Namely me. In this case, you are supposed to remain behind me, in front of Raine and attack the enemies that I am attacking. You're supposed to protect Raine and help me, understand?" Kratos waited until Collette nodded and handed her back her weapon and asked Raine to lead them to the brown hair's father's house.

Before the trio finally made it to the house, they encountered two more groups of monsters. Collette was not particularly useful in those two fights, but at least she did not get in the way. Kratos supposed that he should be happy that the girl was actually a fast learner and good at following orders. A few minutes later, Kratos spotted the edges of a modest, clean house and heard a voice that he recognized as brown hair's shout "you don't have to hit me."

_Wonder what the idiot did. _Bemused, Kratos watched brown hair stormed out of his house with an angry expression on his face which quickly turned to embarrassment when he saw the newcomers.

"Hi, guys," he said and rubbed the back of his head. "What are you doing here?"

Collette smiled and brightly and told him that they were there to gather weapons and other supplies for the Journey of Regeneration. Then she asked him where her birthday present was and brown hair revealed that he forgot to make it again and that he was so sorry. Eager to get away from all the tragic romance, Kratos motioned for Raine and they entered the house. It was obviously a place that lacked a feminine touch (or paid servants), but it was clean enough. Lloyd's father apparently took his craft seriously; there were tools scattered all over the place, all well-used and taken care. Abruptly, Kratos was reminded of his own father and how seriously he used to take farming.

_That was strange; it's been literally centuries since I thought of my father. _He shook his head and watched as a dwarf walked into the room, shaking his head and looking quite worried. Raine greeted him and introduced Kratos absentmindedly and began to question him about the weapons he had forged for their journey. It took Kratos about forty seconds to realize that this dwarf's was supposed to be Lloyd's father and about forty more seconds to arrive to the conclusion that the brat was obviously adopted. He took a few seconds to berate himself for being even more disoriented than usual and excused himself to go for a walk.

He walked outside and decided to explore the small patio a little. It'd been so long since he'd been outside and not on the run that he'd forgotten how much he enjoyed just being by himself and getting in touch with nature. Nature was very easy to get along with, no need for talking or birthday presents. The only thing a pet needed was food, shelter, and some affection and they were happy. His best friends (before Martel, Yuan, and Mithos had been his father's hounds).

_All right, stop thinking about all that crap. None of it matters anymore. Gods, freedom does crazy things to a man's head, even if it is fake freedom. _

Kratos worked a little on clearing his head _(just recite all the perfect squares up until three thousand, from greatest to least) _until he noticed a small mural in the edge of the small patio. Sometime in the near future, Kratos would regret letting his curiosity get the best of him instead of turning around and asking Raine if they could go already. Unfortunately, he just walked towards it and read the inscription on the stone.

_Here lies Anna, the woman who has given me my son._

Kratos just stared at the words _Anna _and _son _for about three minutes. His mind went completely blank without the need of scrambling numbers around for the first time in four thousand years (much like the way his mind used to clear when the sounds men screaming from pain during a particularly bad epidemic of the black fever that killed about 35.61, or so he calculated, of the people in his village—his mother included). He assumed that even Raine would have noticed the look of horror that settled over his face as the impact of what he saw really hit him.

Like any normal person, Kratos just had a mild nervous breakdown when he realized that he was a daddy again. Except that this time there was no hint of happiness under the immediate panic that Anna's "we're going to have a baby" had resulted in seventeen years ago. Thankfully, the Kratos's human subconscious decided to intervene before Kratos shut down and immediately began to find a way to ignore this. He sat down and began to have a garbled monologue with himself in order to deny that Lloyd was his _oh shit, **son.**_

_All right, just **breathe**---even if you don't need to. This is no proof that the he's mine. Many women are named Anna, and this world is just full of orphans. This is the declining world, for mana's sake. Unless he shows some sign of having a Cruxis crystal or any other indication of being special in any way, **this doesn't mean anything. **_

If Kratos were lucky at all, that would have been the end of it. He would have gone back for Raine and Collette, gotten the Chosen to the end of the regeneration trip, watched Yggie fail once again and returned to his room in Derris-Kharlan to waste away countless centuries. But Kratos had not been lucky since the day he decided to help Mithos, so at that precise moment, _mystical _that he presumed dead with Anna and his son approached him and began nuzzling his hair. Kratos simply looked at it for a few seconds before mentally exclaiming _oh, **fuck **me._


End file.
